They really are a brutal lot. While the Queensland Labor Government croons on matters regarding rights, liberties and, it should be said, the plight of the First Nations Peoples, its policy, notably on youth detention, is a contradictory abomination. This situation finds itself repeated across the country, though the Sunshine State, as it is sometimes called, does it better than[Read More…]
Inequitable family planning and illogical pro-growth policies are taking away every child’s right to a fair start in life. There is a conflict between ecocentric people struggling for freedom, and anthropocentric people threatening that freedom. This conflict, which happens beneath the surface of most media, constitutes a “secret war” for what the future of Earth will be. This secret war[Read More…]
Introduction Child abuse is harm to another person, whether an adult or a child, or neglect of a child. In all racial, national, and income groups, child violence exists. Abuse of children may be physical, mental – verbal, sexual or ignored. Abuse may cause the child to suffer serious injury and could even result[Read More…]
But are privacy rights coming in the way of reuniting lost children with families? In the backdrop of international development agencies such as International Labour Organisation (ILO) warning an imminent rise in incidence of child-trafficking during the pandemic, the Railway Police Force aims to use technology to outsmart unscrupulous elements trafficking children. It is rolling out a new set of[Read More…]
Children’s Day or Bal Diwas in India is celebrated every year on Nov. 14th, six days before the rest of the world, on the birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. This year marks Nehru’s 131st birth anniversary. Children’s day, originally, was celebrated on Nov. 20th as Universal Children’s Day by the United Nations. India also[Read More…]
Sivakasi is a curse, a blight, an abomination that India could do without. Here, workers, especially children, are routinely killed or scarred for life in fires and explosions while making crackers and bombs to feed the fireworks industry. A devastation in Sivakasi, 700 kilometres from Chennai, on September 5, 2012, claimed 54 lives. Between January 2011 and September 2012, there[Read More…]
On May 31st 2020, Zohra Shah, an eight-year old domestic worker in Pakistan was beaten to death by her employers. Each year over one billion children across the world experience physical or sexual abuse. Dear Zohra, I am sorry you are not Black. I am sorry the police have not released the video of how your employers, Hassan Siddique and his[Read More…]
COVID-19 outbreak was declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020. Since then WHO has declared it as a pandemic affecting more than 115 countries around the globe. India has seen its first COVID-19 case in Kerala on 30th January 2020. However, until the 13th march Ministry of Health didn’t consider it as a Public Health Emergency for the country. But, soon cases were[Read More…]
“In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made School Boards.” — Mark Twain These words seem to carry relevance even today in the 21st century as it did back in 1897 when the author penned these words. On the 12th of this month, the High Court of Kerala passed an order against the Kerala State[Read More…]
I was disturbed and appalled to read these two compositions: Children Can’t Wait: Taking Steps Towards Their Protective Present – Mahima Sukheja Pradhuman Dies Due To Gross Negligence And Bad Governance – Dr Vivek Kumar Srivastava Whenever I get upset and this is the way that I’ve been since a little girl, I chase that which bothers me like white on[Read More…]
One inevitable outcome of the phenomenal violence we all suffer as children is that most of us live in a state of delusion throughout our lives. This makes it extraordinarily difficult for accurate information, including vital information about the endangered state of our world and how to respond appropriately, to penetrate the typical human mind. ‘Phenomenal violence?’ you might ask.[Read More…]
Be Careful In Selecting An Early Childhood Center For Your Children’s Care! They may look good on the outside — on the skin level. Yet many are rotten to the core! Recently I learned from TV channel seven news reports that 10,000 of the 70,000 early child care centers in Massachusetts, USA are under intense investigation at any given time[Read More…]
One of the more subtle manifestations of the intimate link between (unconscious) human emotions and behaviour is illustrated by the simple concept of choice and how this is so often reduced to a dichotomy between two bad options. In such circumstances, most people choose whatever they consider to be ‘the lesser evil’. But how often are there only two options,[Read More…]
The Australian ABC TV Four Corners program has revealed shocking CCTV images of mostly Aboriginal children being horrendously abused, assaulted and tortured by prison guards in a juvenile detention centre in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT). Australia has been shocked. The Coalition Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull set up a Royal Commission to investigate the matter but this (a) involves the complicit[Read More…]
The Social Consciousness of Law Makers and Politicians at large when it comes to Rights of Children is missing, leading to the rise in violations against children. The recent passing of the bill in the Rajya Sabha with less than 25% of its member being present and conspicuous silence and ignorance of the middle class only reflects the larger design to maintain the status quo. It suits the industry, it suits the economy and finally the family both employing and those sending. With State becoming part of the larger controversy – voiceless children with no political or economic say are left helpless. Lets acknowledge that State in its role of Parens Patriae has failed miserably to provide a robust legal and institutional mechanism, when it comes to Children.
The new “Unicef report, 2016—Assisting Refugee Children,” detailing the fate of children in war zones and those forced to flee, was released at the beginning of this month. It describes the horrific consequences, for children and young people around the world, of wars and civil wars lasting years and even decades. According to estimates made by Unicef, the UN’s children’s[Read More…]
There is a long history of social critics and progressive thinkers offering critiques of human society. Among those who are better known, Karl Marx offered a critique of capitalism, anarchists have critiqued the state, Mohandas K. Gandhi offered a critique of industrial society, Sigmund Freud and Herbert Marcuse offered critiques of civilization, and feminists have critiqued patriarchy. In addition, critiques[Read More…]
Union Health Ministry placing a cap on new medical colleges in States on the basis of the population criterion violates federalism 
Reflections on the Revolutionary Legacy of Makhan Singh in Kenya 
Armenian civilians flee Nagorno-Karabakh after new offensive by Azerbaijan 
Manipur: a statement of concern and suggestions for peaceful resolution 
Global Leaders Plead for Peace in Ukraine at UN 
Ghosts of the Past: For Israel, War on UNESCO is an Existential Battle 
Keeping Cattle on Public Land Is Bad for People, Cows, Wildlife, and the Planet 
The United States in the World: Making Sense of the Past Forty Years (1981-2023) 
Canadian Youth At Risk and the Discrimination of Marginalized Demographics 
While Searching Worldwide for Terrorists, Uncle Sam Should Also Look in a Mirror 
American Abrams tanks roll into Ukraine 
An open letter to JNU VC – Your association with RSS defies humanism, anti-colonial struggle Indian democracy! 
From Education to Incarceration 
Tunakataa! Saying ‘No’ to Capitalism and Imperialism in Kenya 
Rising Islamophobia and Communal Discord: An Alarming Trend in BJP-Ruled States 
Speak Truth to Power and Pay the Price! 
USA’s Wars Took 12 Million Lives in The Last 25 Years 
US to send long-range ATACMS missile to Ukraine 
In Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan makes us an offer we can refuse 
Nijjar affair poses an existential dilemma 
On the Brink of Famine 
Appeal to withdraw the notification for the public hearing for the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project 
“Making a thriller from grain” 
Key Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) Likely To Collapse In 2025-2095 
Global Biofuel Alliance at G20: Land vs Water vs Food Security- Has the government addressed the trade-offs? 
The Nijjar Murder and Indian Government’s alleged “involvement”: Reactions and Reflections 
France Will Pull Out Its Diplomats And Military From Niger, Says Macron 
Imperial Footprints in Africa: The Dismal Role of AFRICOM 
Hunger in Africa has its roots in a History of Colonialism and Neo-colonialism 
The Climate March: Magnificent and Misdirected 
Imagining a Progressive Pentagon 
“Lost Voices of Fentanyl” Rally at the White House 
Indian Government Must First Evict Dalai Lama & his Followers before Admonishing Canada for Separatist Activities 
Peasant-rebels: lineages of insurgency 
Mission to Free Assange: Australian Parliamentarians in Washington 
Bayer-ICAR Collaboration Raises Serious Concerns Regarding Indian Farm Policy 
Place of Minorities as Allotted by Savarkar, Golwalkar and Upadhyaya 
What is in the name? Attempt to stop the usage of ‘India’ by the Government 
Poona Pact: A Reappraisal 
Hate Speech Inside Parliament: Reaching a New Low 
My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
